Chapter Text
The sound of nature swelled around me as I meandered through the trails behind my house. The incessant chirping of various birds might have been enough to drive lesser mortals insane, but if I could survive a seven-hour shift in my library’s youth services department, I could survive anything. I took a deep breath in and let myself surrender to the cacophony of wildlife hidden between the trees— a few trees to the east, a woodpecker was drilling into a birch with a steadfast determination; in a bush to my left, a chipmunk waited in fear as I passed by, an acorn nibbled on in its anxiety; far above, the screech of a vulture, hungry for its next meal. I let the music of my local wildlife ease the memories of children screaming over stolen toys and the sound of the youth game computer music stuck on dizzying repeat.
I continued walking, no real destination in mind besides further northward into the twisting woods. After a few minutes of leisurely walking, the narrow trail I had been on opened into a wide expanse of land. I have walked these trails since I was five, but the sight before me was one I had never seen before. Ten or so feet in front of me, in the center of the clearing, was a peculiar circle of wildflowers and mushrooms, their placement seeming both random and purposefully ordered. Being well-read in the category of fantasy myths and legends, I could recognize a faerie circle when I saw one. Most legends, wisely, advise against stepping into the trap of a faerie circle, providing warnings of dances to the death or other curses that could occur. And yet, what fun was life without a little risk?
Stepping forward into the grove, I felt the thrum of excitement in my veins, a desire to see what mischief might lie in wait within nature’s most tempting circle. As I continued on, I paled even more than my fair complexion should healthily allow as I felt the top of my sneaker catch on an exposed root. Windmilling violently, a clutz since birth, I stumbled forward into the grove, falling to my knees within the circle of mushrooms.
“Graceful as always,” I muttered to myself, standing with a scowl as I try to scrape the dirt off my newly ripped jeans.
An airy chuckle interrupted my groaning as I fell silent, looking up in shock to see a figure in front of me. “Graceful indeed! It has been such a long while since I enjoyed a fun fall through my humble circle.”
The figure before me appeared to be at least seven feet tall, but there was a glimmer surrounding her that seemed to twist reality. Her skin was cerulean blue, long white hair cascading in rivulets down her shoulders. She wore a long lace dress that melded into the forest floor at her feet, shifting from white to a mossy green. Most shocking of her visage was the unicorn horn protruding from her forehead.
“Uhm, th-thanks,” I stuttered, taken aback by the possibility I might be staring into the horn— I mean, eyes— of an actual faerie. “Glad to be of some amusement in these trying, tripless times.”
The figure smiled down at me. I can’t tell if her look was for a new friend or a possible meal. “Can I have your name, lithe one?”
I cocked my head, a smirk gracing my otherwise tense features. “I’ve read warnings never to relinquish a name to a faerie, but I will tell you that you can call me Ash. But my name is not as interesting as what yours might be, enchantress?”
“Very wise for one so young and untouched by the grace of the fair folk. I am known as Lurue, the Unicorn Queen.” Lurue bent forward to get a better look at me, seeming to take a tally of my strengths and weaknesses in a second’s glance. “Now tell me, what is a wise one doing stumbling into a faerie’s trap?”
“Well,” I drawled, adjusting my glasses with a chuckle. “I may have tripped on my way in here, but it was with a purposeful movement that I stepped inside your circle. I figured it was a one-of-a-kind adventure that I would be foolish to walk past.”
The Unicorn Queen straightened up, her eyes sparkling in joy at some new idea. “So, you are a seeker of adventure? I too am fond of what a life of adventure has to offer. Perhaps you would like the opportunity to expand your horizons and spread a little lighthearted chaos to spice up the boring routines of mortal life?”
A hand reached towards me, not so much imposing as alluring, a doorway to something a little more exciting than what living in the same small town for nineteen years had provided for me so far. You shouldn’t make deals with faeries; I knew that as well as I knew how boring my days had become since leaving the exciting environment of college away from home. And yet, with a deal only promising a chance at adventure, how bad of a cost could there be?
I reached forward shyly before gaining courage and crossing the distance. I felt Lurue’s hand gently but securely grasp my own, a welcoming curve to her lips. She held my hand for a solid second, shaking it in a gesture of finality, and I had the thought that Paris might be nice this time of year, just as the ground below my feet opened up and I was for a moment frozen in the air, eyes locked with the Unicorn Queen, before she faded from view, taking with her the hand that had been the only thing still holding me in the circle. I had a moment to think, “never walk into a faerie’s circle,” before I was plunged into an inky darkness with no time for even a single scream.
I awoke face first on a forest floor, an array of leaves sticking to my face. As I wedged myself up onto my elbows, I rubbed furiously at my face as I was pretty sure I had somehow gotten some leaves up my nose. Pushing up to steady myself against a nearby oak, I laughed in relief. When I tripped earlier, I must have hit my head in the fall and had a bit of a midsummer’s night dream. Of course there was no faerie to take my soul; it was only a harmless concussion to blame! I patted myself down to remove the rest of the dirt and leaves from my clothing before glancing around nervously, realizing my surroundings did not look familiar at all. Did I really hit my head that hard to not be able to recognize my own trails? Shaking the fog from my mind, I grit my teeth in determination. I refused to become a picture on the back of a milk carton after becoming lost in my own backyard!
I glanced around anxiously, but no path sparked anything in my mind. Yet, standing around in one place would do no good, so I resolutely stalked forward into the closest path. I bounded forward, exuding a confidence I hadn’t earned, when a vine snaked around my ankle and dragged me back down to the forest floor. The wind nearly knocked out of me, I looked behind me to see the vine traced back to a nearby shrub. I scrambled back up and tried to back away in a daze, when a claw-like vine erupted from the shrub to rake across my chest. Fortunately, the leaves didn’t manage to make much headway against me and I was able to back away a few steps further. The shrub, for some godforsaken reason, was able to strike again faster than I could respond, but again causing no lasting damage. As I fumbled in my pocket for something to fight a shrub with, I felt a heat grace my palm and pulled out a small metal circle, on which was emblazoned a quarter moon surrounding the head of a unicorn.
“Oh fuck,” I whispered. Was this an arcane focus, an actual gotdamn focus? “I actually made a pact with a fey, didn’t I?”
Well, when in fantasy Rome.
Giving it my best shot, I focused on the new dark energy brewing within me and threw an eldritch blast at the approaching shrub. And I immediately missed. Not willing to be bested by a monster shrub, I cast toll the dead in my frustration. The shrub, seemingly hiding some deep wisdom, was unaffected by my first attempts at magic. Perhaps I was just hallucinating after all…
As I was contemplating my sanity, the shrub leapt towards me again, but this time I managed to dodge it, not wanting to risk getting injured on the off-chance the shrub was real.
I held the symbol up to my chest, squeezing my eyes shut for a moment. “If I’m not insane, please, for the love of someone, do something .”
Holding the symbol foreword, I once again attempted to summon an eldritch blast, and this time I saw a bolt of blue strike through the advancing shrub, taking with it a fair bit of the green shrubbery. Feeling emboldened, I attempted to cast toll the dead again as well. Unfortunately, the shrub still managed to shake off the necrotic energy.
The shrub, seemingly riled that I managed to do some damage, raked another thorned vine across me, but again was unable to do any damage. I summoned the bells to toll even louder, desperate to be free of this burdensome beast. This time, the spell sunk in as the shrub quivered in pain. I followed it up immediately with another eldritch blast, cutting through most of the shrub’s remaining defenses.
It limped forward slowly, if a shrub could limp, and attempted halfheartedly to gain the upper-hand against me. Unfortunately for the shrub, there was not enough of it remaining to successfully get a hit in. More in pity than in defense at this point, I turned a final eldritch blast towards the shrub and watched as it fell, motionless, to the forest floor, disintegrating a bit and melding with the surrounding greenery.
“I’m unstoppable— I killed a shrub,” I deadpanned, toeing the shrub disinterestedly. “Nature quivers before me.”
I looked curiously at the symbol in my palm, then back around to the dense unfamiliar forest. “Let’s go see what trouble I’ve gotten myself into this time.”